Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Release Date: June 7th 2011
Publisher: Quirk Books
Genre: Young Adult, Dark Fantasy, Fiction
Pages: 352
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Summary
"A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs.
It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive."
My Thoughts
This is a book that you can't really mention without first talking about the imagery used throughout. I loved how they were incorporated into the book and found that they gave a very eerie and believable feel to the story, especially since all of the photo used are real and weren't specifically shot for the book.
The plot was very detailed and did a good job of evolving the story at a decent pace, albeit the odd few parts were slow, with just the right amount of development. I found the book to be a lot darker than most YA and is something that I'm grateful for as it set a really good tone for the book and made you fear for the characters as they face the more 'creepy' and dangerous characters. I also really enjoyed the initial reluctance from Jacob at what he seeing and was being told, it was a refreshing change to some books in which the protagonist suddenly discovers that they aren't normal/supernatural and roll with it straight away 'no questions asked'.
My main issues with the book were that I found there to be quite a lot of characters to take in initially, which made me a little confused when it came to remembering their names and also the peculiar ability. Also was the romance/relationship between Emma and Jacob. (Next part is spoiler tagged as it gives away a little 'reveal'.)
My main issues with the book were that I found there to be quite a lot of characters to take in initially, which made me a little confused when it came to remembering their names and also the peculiar ability. Also was the romance/relationship between Emma and Jacob. (Next part is spoiler tagged as it gives away a little 'reveal'.)
Overall it was a really enjoyable read, a little slow in parts - mainly getting into the plot. It had a good development of character and story, with the fantastic additions of the photographs. I would defiantly recommend as its quite a unique book both plot and presentation wise, with the right amount of darkness that most YA lacks.
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